British royal couple expecting second child

September 08, 2014

LONDON (AP) — Prince George is not going to be an only child for long — the toddler will soon have a baby sister or brother to share his fancy digs at Kensington Palace.

British royal officials said Monday that Prince William and the duchess of Cambridge, the former Kate Middleton, are expecting their second child. Once again, Kate is being treated for acute morning sickness in the early phases of her pregnancy. The first time she was so ill she required hospitalization.

Now she is being treated by doctors at her residence in Kensington Palace. She canceled a planned engagement in Oxford to rest and receive medical care. Prince William told well-wishers in Oxford that Kate should be over the worst of her symptoms in a few weeks. He repeatedly thanked people for congratulating him and said Kate was disappointed she could not travel.

"She wishes she could be here," he said. "She's feeling okay, thanks. It's been a tricky few days — week or so — but obviously we're basically thrilled, it's great news, and early days. We're hoping things settle down and she feels a bit better."

The new baby, boy or girl, will become fourth in line to the throne, pushing Prince Harry to fifth. George, who is 13 months old, is third and likely to become Britain's monarch one day. William is second in line, while his father, Prince Charles, is first.

Britain had changed its laws before George's birth so that the couple's first born would be in line for the throne regardless of its sex. Before the change, a girl would have lost her place in line if a boy was born later.

William and Kate have often expressed an interest in having a larger family. The royal couple and their families are "delighted" with the baby news, said officials at Clarence House, the couple's office. The announcement follows months of speculation in the glossy British and American press about a possible baby brother or sister for George.

After hospital treatment for severe morning sickness, hyperemesis gravidarum, Kate recovered and gave birth to George in July 2013 without further complications. The current illness means the 32-year-old duchess may need extra hydration, medication and nutrients.

Britain's Press Association news agency reported that Kate's pregnancy hasn't passed the 12-week stage, which is when she became ill in her first pregnancy. Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "delighted by the happy news that they're expecting another baby."

Royal officials said it wasn't clear if the duchess will be able to carry out planned official engagements, including a trip to Malta on Sept. 20 and 21 that would mark her first overseas solo trip. Decisions on events would be made on a "case-by-case" basis, officials said.

Hundreds protest in Wales before NATO summit

August 30, 2014

LONDON (AP) — Hundreds of anti-war protesters have marched through the Welsh city of Newport before a major NATO summit there next week.

About 1,000 peace activists holding banners and placards that read "No to NATO" and "Stop NATO Expansion" marched Saturday in a peaceful procession. The Sept. 4-5 summit at Newport's Celtic Manor Resort will be attended by more than 150 heads of state and officials.

Police have said that about 9,500 officers from around Britain will secure the event, which is expected to draw a large number of protesters. Authorities have warned that a minority of protesters is expected to disrupt proceedings and challenge police.

Sweden shifts to left in parliamentary election

September 15, 2014

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden's Social Democrats were poised to return to power after a left-leaning bloc defeated the center-right government in a parliamentary election Sunday that also saw strong gains by an anti-immigration party.

With more than 99 percent of districts counted, the Social Democrat-led Red-Green bloc had 43.7 percent of the votes Sunday while the governing coalition got 39.3 percent, official preliminary results showed.

The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats party more than doubled its support to 13 percent, leaving it with the balance of power in Parliament. "The Swedish people have made their decision. We didn't make it all the way," Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said as he conceded defeat. "Therefore I will submit my and my government's resignation tomorrow (Monday)."

The result marks the end of an eight-year era of tax cuts and pro-market policies under Reinfeldt, who said he would also resign as leader of the conservative party. Many Swedes worried that his tax cuts have undermined the country's famed welfare system.

"There's something that is falling apart in Sweden," Social Democrat leader Stefan Lofven told cheering supporters at a rally in Stockholm after most of the votes had been counted. "Tonight Sweden has answered that we need change."

The 57-year-old former union leader is expected to enter into coalition talks with the Social Democrats' main partner in the Red-Green bloc, the environmentalist Green Party, and potentially also the ex-communist Left Party.

But unless he's able to recruit one of the center-right parties in Reinfeldt's Alliance, he could face a situation where the Sweden Democrats and the Alliance jointly strike down key proposals. "We are now Sweden's third biggest party," Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson told jubilant supporters. The once radical far-right party entered Parliament four years ago with 5.7 percent support.

Despite the gains, the Sweden Democrats are unlikely to attain their main goal of sharply reducing immigration because all the other parties are in favor of a liberal asylum policy. This year, Sweden expects up to 80,000 asylum-seekers from Syria, Eritrea, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries — the highest number since 1992.

The rise of the Sweden Democrats has unnerved many Swedes, who regard the party as racist despite its efforts to soften its rhetoric under Akesson. Smaller, more extreme groups are also trying to advance their positions in Sweden, including a neo-Nazi group that police said entered a handful of polling stations in Stockholm on Sunday, allegedly intimidating voters by filming them, shouting slogans and spreading confetti with political messages.

The group confirmed on its website that its activists had entered polling stations after burning ballots and an Israeli flag at a rally in downtown Stockholm. A small feminist party that an exit poll suggested could enter Parliament failed to reach the 4 percent threshold, finishing with 3.1 percent, the official results showed.

Reinfeldt, who took office in 2006, is the longest-serving conservative prime minister in Swedish history. His center-right Alliance has cut income and corporate taxes, abolished a tax on wealth and trimmed welfare benefits. It has also eased labor laws and privatized state-owned companies, including the maker of Absolut vodka.

Meanwhile, the gap between rich and poor has grown faster in Sweden than in most developed countries, though it remains among the world's most egalitarian, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

"I hope that there will be a change," said Jonathan Andersson, a 25-year-old chef in Stockholm who blamed the government for his problems finding a "proper" job. "They changed the employment law and now I just get temporary work."

Martin Holmen, a volunteer campaign worker for Reinfeldt's Moderate Party, said many voters didn't give the government enough credit for making Sweden's economy one of the strongest in Europe. "We have had the deepest economic crisis since the 1930s. But people in Sweden have hardly noticed it," Holmen said. "That's a very good grade for the Alliance."

AP video journalist Jona Kallgren contributed to this report.

Venezuela's Maduro calls for shakeup at UN

September 25, 2014

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro called for a "re-founding" of the United Nations late Wednesday in his first speech before the international organization.

The socialist president took the podium at the General Assembly of world leaders to demand that the U.N. undergo a profound transformation and recognize that the world is now multipolar, defined by new regional alliances.

Co-operation among Latin American countries has Venezuela poised to win a seat on the U.N. Security Council next year. Maduro said that this council in particular needed an immediate overhaul to ensure that it reflects the modern world, in which every region has its own voice and ambitions.

Speaking with hand gestures and a declamatory style, he praised Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for helping stave off Islamic State militants, and pledged $5 million to the fight against Ebola. He railed against harassment by the "imperial forces" of the American empire "that have tried again and again to undermine democracy."

But unlike his mentor and predecessor Hugo Chavez, who famously called George W. Bush the devil in a U.N. speech, Maduro stopped short of personal attacks or name-calling. As with most aspects of Maduro's presidency, the spirit of the more popular Chavez was close at hand during the half hour speech. Maduro made several reverential references to the populist leader. And Chavez's daughter, who Maduro recently named as deputy ambassador to the U.N., made her public debut at the organization as she watched from the empty-looking auditorium.

Maduro concluded his remarks with a prayer for peace. Something that will only be possible, he said, when the sovereignty of each country is respected.

Poor support Brazil's president in re-election bid

September 24, 2014

SAO PAULO (AP) — Life may still be tough for millions of poor Brazilians — but it's also never been better.

And that's the key for President Dilma Rousseff's re-election bid. Although Rousseff and top rival Marina Silva are locked in a virtual tie among those in the middle class, the biggest group of voters, the president has a wide edge with Brazil's poorest people because of generous welfare programs that have helped slash hunger and extreme poverty under the watch of her Workers Party.

Between 2001 and 2012, Brazil reduced extreme poverty from 14 percent of the population to 3.5 percent, according to the United Nations annual report on global food insecurity released last week. The number of malnourished people dropped from 19 percent to below 5 percent, removing Brazil from the U.N. World Hunger Map.

Tens of millions of poor people have also been lifted into the lower middle class over the past decade. A poll released on Tuesday by the respected Ibope Institute showed that 51 percent of people in the poorest income category — about a fourth of the electorate — would vote for Rousseff in the first round of the election on Oct. 5, compared to 38 percent for Silva.

That's much better than Rousseff's showing among the electorate as a whole. The Ibope poll shows Rousseff with 9 percentage point lead over Silva in the first round. If neither candidate gets 50 percent, a runoff will be held on Oct. 26 and the poll shows Rousseff and Silva tied at 41 percent.

Ibope surveyed 3,010 people across Brazil from Sept. 20-22 and the poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. In Sao Paulo's Heliopolis slum, one of Brazil's largest, Andrea Santos says there is no question who most of her neighbors will vote for.

"Improvements Dilma and the Workers Party have made in health and educational services for the poor will guarantee that 90 percent" of the voters in Heliopolis will cast ballots for Rousseff, said Santos, who lives in a decrepit, three-story building of concrete tucked into a narrow alley.

Santos and her five children and one grandson share the cramped two-bedroom walk-up that rents for $400 a month, her entire salary for coordinating educational activities for youth at a local community center.

"If it weren't for the money my sons earn doing odd jobs here and there and running errands I would not be able to pay the rent," said Santos, standing in front of flat-screen TV with Nelinha, her 7-year-old Pinscher dog.

For four years, her family benefited from one of the Workers Party's most popular programs, Bolsa Familia, which paid $10.7 billion to almost 14 million families in 2013. Bolsa Familia is a program that pays mothers a varying monthly stipend as long as they can prove that they're keeping their kids in school and taking them monthly to government health clinics for checkups and immunizations.

Santos received about $100 in cash a month to keep her children in school until the last child finished classes in December. "The lives of the poor have improved under Workers Party governments and they will vote for Dilma because they feel their lives will continue getting better, and fear they may lose the benefits they have obtained should she lose," said Pedro Fassoni Arruda, a political science professor at Sao Paulo's Roman Catholic University. "There is no doubt that nationwide Dilma and the Workers Party have the support of the poorest segments of society."

Silva's team has accused Rousseff's campaign of spreading rumors among poor Brazilians that Silva, who is pushing a more orthodox line of economic policy, would end Bolsa Familia if elected. Rousseff's team denies that.

Last week, Silva ran an emotional campaign ad that showed her telling a rally in northeastern Brazil that she would never end Bolsa Familia because she herself went hungry as the daughter of an impoverished rubber tapper deep in the Amazon jungle.

Privately, Silva's campaign advisers acknowledge frustration over their inability to attract poor voters, arguing they lack the time or campaign funds to make them more aware of the difference between Silva's humble roots and Rousseff's middle-class rearing.

Still, among poor voters, Rousseff's political mentor, former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who rose from being a shoeshine boy to the nation's highest office, and the Workers Party brand seem enough to keep them as firm supporters.

Manoel Otaviano da Silva, a community leader in the Heliopolis slum, put it bluntly. "Lula is seen here as a God who can no wrong," he said. "If he backs Dilma, then she can do no wrong. Most residents here see her as a continuation of Lula and the programs his government introduced."

Walking around the labyrinth streets of Heliopolis, it's virtually impossible to find a single poster or banner from the Marina Silva campaign. Rousseff's campaign ads are plastered all over the place.

"Why should I vote for Marina Silva when I know what Dilma and the Workers party have done and will continue doing?" said Maria Damaceno de Santana, a 43-year-old cook who lives in the slum. "Dilma must be re-elected so she can continue helping the poor. We know Dilma. We don't know Marina Silva."

AP: More than 5,000 dead in C. African Republic

September 12, 2014

GUEN, Central African Republic (AP) — More than 5,000 people have died in sectarian violence in Central African Republic since December, according to an Associated Press tally, suggesting that a U.N. peacekeeping mission approved months ago is coming too late for thousands.

The AP found at least 5,186 people were killed in fighting between Muslims and Christians, based on a count of bodies and numbers gathered from survivors, priests, imams and aid workers in more than 50 of the hardest-hit communities. That's more than double the death toll of at least 2,000 cited by the United Nations in April, when it approved the mission. There has been no official count since.

U.N. peacekeepers prepare to take over from African forces on Monday, bringing about 2,000 extra troops to the country. It will fall short of the almost 7,000 more that were authorized in April, with the rest expected by early 2015. Yet violence in the Central African Republic has only spread since.

"The international community said it wanted to put a stop to the genocide that was in the making. But months later, the war has not stopped," said Joseph Bindoumi, president of the Central African Human Rights League. "On the contrary, it has gotten worse."

The U.N. is not recording civilian deaths on its own, unlike in Iraq or Afghanistan, and has cited figures gathered by the local Red Cross. It has taken months simply to gather troops from different countries for the mission launch on Sept. 15, especially with poor infrastructure in landlocked terrain, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the U.N. Secretary-General.

"Mobilizing troops for peacekeeping mission takes time because it's not like they're waiting in New York for us," Dujarric said Wednesday. "We have to go knock on doors for troops, for equipment, helicopters..."

Many deaths in this country of about 4.6 million were never officially counted, especially in a vast, remote swath of the west that is still dangerous and can barely be reached in torrential rains. Other deaths were overlooked by overwhelmed aid workers but registered at mosques and at private Christian funerals. Even the AP tally is almost certainly a fraction of the true death toll.

The conflict started when Muslim rebels captured the capital last March and killed hundreds, possibly thousands, of Christians. When Christian militias forced the rebels to withdraw in late January, they killed as they went.

In the tiny, mostly Christian village of Nzakoun, the rebels set ablaze more than two dozen houses in early February and then went door-to-door. One 13-year-old boy, Maximin Lassananyant, stumbled out of his hut into the darkness and hid for two days in the bush, petrified. He left only when other survivors found him and told him it was time to come home and bury his family.

Maximin's hands still shake as he tries to write down their names, and he cannot bring himself to say them aloud. A village chief has printed the names of 22 buried victims on a weathered piece of notebook paper. Maximin's mother, Rachel, is No. 11 on the list of females, and his 5-year-old sister, Fani, is No. 13. His 7-year-old brother Boris is on the list of males.

It was only a matter of time before Christian militias took revenge and in turn killed thousands of Muslims. Muslims make up about 15 percent of the country's population, and Christians 50 percent. In the town of Guen, Christian fighters stormed a house where dozens of Muslim men and boys had sought refuge, according to survivors. The fighters herded the Muslims to a shady lawn beneath two large mango trees, ordered them to lie on their stomachs and shot them, one by one. The 43 people dead included two 11-year-old boys.

The lives of three Muslims in town were spared: They transported the bludgeoned bodies to two mass graves on a wooden stretcher. A villager named Abakar lost four sons between the ages of 11 and 16, and sobs so hard at the thought of his boys awaiting death that he cannot speak.

"Each night before I go to sleep I pray to God that I don't have nightmares about that day," he chokes out, too afraid to give his full name in case the militants come back. Edmond Beina, the local leader of a Christian militia, is unrepentant. Everyone killed that day was a Muslim rebel, he says. Even the children.

The violence is now bubbling up in previously stable corners of the Central African Republic, hitting both Christians and Muslims. In Bambari, northeast of the capital, at least 149 people were killed in June and July alone, according to witnesses. In the Mbres area, Muslim rebels left at least 34 people dead in August.

In the tiny enclave of Boda, there are grieving fathers everywhere. Abakar Hissein, a Muslim man, has lost two sons, both shot to death — Ahmat earlier this year in Bangui and Ali on Aug. 20 in Boda. His wife has been missing for five months and does not know Ali is dead.

"Somehow I was able to carry his body back in my own arms, but it was very hard for me," he said. "I was truly in shock." Even in death, there is no peace for the victims. Earlier this summer, a Muslim man was buried at a cemetery in Boda, just a mile away from the zone where Muslims are barricaded.

Later that evening, after the sun set, his body was dug up from the ground and set on fire.

Associated Press writer Steve Niko in Boda, Central African Republic and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Germany opens Euro 2016 qualifying campaign

September 06, 2014

BERLIN (AP) — World Cup winner Germany opens its 2016 European Championship qualification campaign against Scotland in Dortmund on Sunday, hopeful of taking the first step toward back-to-back titles. Scotland is arguably fighting it out with Poland and Ireland for second place in Group D, though third place would also leave open the prospect of qualification, most likely through a playoff. Ireland plays Georgia in Tbilisi and Gibraltar hosts Poland at the Algarve stadium in Portugal, also Sunday. Here are five things to know about the group:

BACK-TO-BACK

Only France and Spain have won a European Championship as reigning World Cup winners, in 2000 and 2012, respectively. Germany is in a good position to repeat that feat, despite the retirements of World Cup-winning captain Philipp Lahm, fellow defender Per Mertesacker and record goal-scorer Miroslav Klose.

Coach Joachim Loew has always made a point of bringing in new players. He handed out 72 debuts in 113 games since he took over in August 2006, so transition should not be a problem.

Germany boasts a wealth of young talents pushing established internationals for their places. World Cup hero Mario Goetze is yet to nail down a starting position, Andre Schuerrle has grown used to a substitute role, and Borussia Moenchengladbach midfielder Christoph Kramer has already impressed in a short time.

Loew's greatest challenge is molding the talent at his dispersal into a cohesive unit. He's got two years to get it right again.

INJURIES BITE

Germany's squad has been hit hard by injuries, compounding the loss of the retired Lahm, Mertesacker and Klose.

Loew called up attacking midfielder Sidney Sam on Thursday, in place of Schalke teammate Julian Draxler, who strained his right thigh in Germany's 4-2 friendly loss to Argentina on Wednesday.

Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira, Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil, Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels and Valencia defender Shkodran Mustafi are also out, while Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has an ongoing knee injury.

Thomas Mueller was rested against Argentina and is likely to start on Sunday, and Goetze should be fresh after a substitute role on Wednesday.

GERMAN ALARM

Mertesacker described Argentina's 4-2 win over Germany in Wednesday's friendly as a "wake-up call" and Loew's side will be fully focused and determined to atone with a win against Scotland.

Striker Mario Gomez, who missed three clear chances against Argentina before being jeered by the home fans, will have another chance to win back their trust. Gomez has 25 goals in 60 appearances for Germany but missed the World Cup due to fitness concerns after a long injury layoff.

"Mario had a tough time after his injury and missing out on the World Cup," Marco Reus said on Friday. "He knows what he can do, we know what he can do and the goals will come by themselves at some stage."

Reus also missed the World Cup, due to a foot injury sustained just before the tournament, but the Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder is gradually getting back to his best.

"The most important thing is that I feel well. I was delighted to be back," said Reus, who is counting on vocal support in his hometown stadium. "I'm happy the qualifier is in Dortmund."

STRUGGLING SCOTLAND

Scotland has not been involved at a major tournament since the 1998 World Cup in France. The country's record against Germany is good, though, with four wins and five draws from 15 games.

However, the Germans have yet to lose in six competitive games to the Scots. Two of those were draws played in Glasgow.

"The Germans come alive when it becomes competitive," said Scotland coach Gordon Strachan, who enjoyed the Germany-Argentina friendly but is braced for a backlash.

"It was a wonderful game to watch from a neutral's point of view but we didn't take anything from it," Strachan said. "When the Germans have to compete, they're a different animal. I can't remember the last time they didn't qualify for anything."

TOP THREE REWARDED

With 24 sides competing at Euro 2016 in France, qualifying is theoretically easier. The second-place finishers in each group all qualify automatically, as does the best third-place side from the nine groups. The other eight third-place teams can qualify through playoffs.

Scotland, Poland and Ireland would be content with second place, possibly even third, from Group D, which is completed by Georgia and Gibraltar.

Poland finished bottom of its group at both Euro 2008 and Euro 2012. Hopes are pinned on captain Jakub Blaszczykowski and former Borussia Dortmund teammate Robert Lewandowski to lead the side further this time around.

Ireland also had an abject Euro 2012, losing all three games under coach Giovanni Trapattoni. The new coaching setup of Martin O'Neill assisted by former Irish international Roy Keane led to fresh optimism, tough it's tempered by a dearth of talent at top-level clubs.

Thousands march in Moscow against Ukraine fighting

September 21, 2014

MOSCOW (AP) — Tens of thousands of people marched through central Moscow on Sunday to demonstrate against the fighting in Ukraine and Russia's alleged complicity in the conflict.

An Associated Press reporter estimated the crowd at about 20,000, although the city police department put the number at about 5,000. The demonstrators chanted slogans including "No to war" and "The junta is in the Kremlin, not Kiev." The latter refers to Russia's contention that the ousting of Ukraine's former Russia-friendly president was a coup.

The fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine that erupted after the ouster has killed more than 3,000 people. Ukraine and Western countries claim Russia is supplying troops and equipment to the rebels, which Moscow denies.

"Our country is acting as an aggressor, like Germany in the war," said demonstrator Konstantin Alexeyev, 35. The Ukraine conflict has boosted nationalist sentiment among Russians, many of who regard eastern Ukraine as rightfully a part of Russia, and coverage of the crisis on state-controlled television channels has skewed strongly against the Ukrainian authorities.

"I am concerned about the rhetoric on our TV channels, which disseminate anti-Ukrainian sentiment," said 50-year-old demonstrator Ludmila Shteigervalt. "Ukraine is a friendly country. We should just leave it alone."

At least one scuffle broke out between protesters and nationalists who unfurled a banner denouncing "The March of Traitors." In Kiev, a Ukrainian security official said attacks by Russia-backed rebel fighters are continuing despite a cease-fire called for by both sides more than two weeks ago.

Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's national security council, said two Ukrainian servicemen and about 40 rebels had died in clashes over the past day. He said the fighters fired on Ukrainian positions at 22 locations and that they fired artillery at the airport in Donetsk, the largest rebel-held city.

The city council of Mariupol, a strategically vital city on the coast of the Sea of Azov, said sporadic shelling of points on its outskirts took place during the night and into Sunday daytime. There were no immediate reports of injuries there.

A cease-fire was called on Sept. 5, but has been violated repeatedly. Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia, the rebels and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe last week tried to further the peace process with an agreement calling for both sides to halt their advances and for pulling back heavy artillery in order to create a buffer zone.

But Lysenko said the cease-fire violations are obstructing fulfillment of the buffer zone plan. "The first point (the cease-fire) is not being fulfilled so far, so we're not talking about the other points," he said.

Along with pulling back the heavy weapons, the plan also calls for the withdrawal of foreign fighters and for all military flights over the combat area to be banned.

Jim Heintz contributed to this report.

Tycoon's arrest sends shock wave through Russia

September 17, 2014

MOSCOW (AP) — The arrest of a Russian telecoms and oil tycoon has sent shock waves through the country's business community, with some fearing a return to the dark days of a decade ago, when the Kremlin asserted its power by imprisoning the country's then-richest man and expropriating his companies.

The criminal case against 65-year-old Vladimir Yevtushenkov marks the first attack on a billionaire businessman since the arrest in 2003 of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of Yukos, which was the country's largest oil company at the time. He spent the next decade in prison on tax evasion and misappropriation charges and saw his company taken over by the state and sold in pieces.

The prosecution of Khodorkovsky had sent a clear message to Russian oligarchs: stay out of politics and your property will be safe. Russia's rich have followed that rule for nearly a decade, and now fret the unspoken promise may be void.

"It shows that now, no one is protected," said Vladimir Milov, an opposition politician and former deputy energy minister. Market watchers are almost unanimous in saying that Yevtushenkov's house arrest is a move by the government and state-owned oil giant Rosneft to take control of his oil company, Bashneft. Rosneft is seeing his oil output falling and has been hit by Western sanctions, whereas Bashneft is enjoying a boom, posting an industry-leading 11.5 percent rise in oil production in the second quarter this year.

The Investigative Committee, Russia's top criminal investigative agency, on Tuesday charged Yevtushenkov with money laundering and placed him under house arrest. He could face up to seven years in prison if found guilty.

Yevtushenkov runs and controls Sistema, a sprawling conglomerate which includes Russia's largest mobile operator MTS, Bashneft and other assets. Bashneft, with a market capitalization of $6.7 billion, is one of a few oil companies still in private hands.

Sistema's shares lost 38 percent by late afternoon on Wednesday, wiping more than $2.5 billion from its share value in just one trading day. Investor confidence in Russia has been battered this year by concerns over the economic consequences of Moscow's hard line in the Ukraine crisis. Since Russia's annexation of Crimea in March, the country has been hit with rounds of sanctions by the U.S. and European Union. Investors are also alarmed by the Kremlin's willingness to impose import bans that are meant as retaliation against the West but are also hurting domestic companies and households.

The charges against Yevtushenkov date back to Sistema's purchase of oil assets in the province of Bashkiria in 2009. These assets were once state-owned but changed hands before they were sold to Sistema. The prosecutors argue the seller had acquired them illegally, making Sistema's purchase illegal, too.

Yevtushenkov's billionaire peers from the Union of the Industrialists and Entrepreneurs insist his company was a bona fide buyer. Sistema, which also has its shares listed in London, said Wednesday its purchases of the oil assets were "legal and transparent" and it pledged to protect them.

Anatoly Chubais, a former Russian deputy prime minister and chairman of a state-owned high-tech conglomerate, stood firmly on Yevtushenkov's side. "I can't understand how he could be linked to Bashneft's privatization deals which he had absolutely nothing to do with," he told Interfax.

Chubais warned that Yevtushenkov's arrest has dealt "an extremely serious blow to the investment climate in Russia while the country's "economy is teetering on the brink of recession and stagnation." Khodorkovsky accused Igor Sechin, a close confidante of President Vladimir Putin and CEO of state-owned oil giant Rosneft, of trying to take control of Bashneft. Sechin was widely seen as the driver behind the demise of Yukos and Khodorkovsky's imprisonment. He has denied the allegations.

"I have no doubts about this, but sure, I have no hard evidence to back it up," Khodorkovsky said in an interview with the RBK newspaper on Tuesday. "I think he is repeating the same pattern he used in the Yukos case."

Rosneft snapped up pieces of Yukos when it was dissolved and bought TNK-BP at the end of a protracted shareholder dispute at the British-Russian venture — all with Putin's public support. Rosneft spokesman Mikhail Leontyev told state news agency RIA Novosti that Khodorkovsky's allegations are "nonsense" and insisted Rosneft was not seeking to get hold of Bashneft.

Bashneft was preparing for a secondary public share offering in London earlier this year hoping to raise about $1 billion. But the plans fell through when restrictions were placed on the sale of its shares as part of a probe into the company's privatization.

The Kremlin has often berated oligarchs for pulling money out of the country and selling shares abroad. Bashneft's plans to float in London could have been used as a pretext to launch the onslaught. Economist Sergei Alekashenko says Yevtushenkov's arrest should be a wake-up call for his fellow tycoons who have turned a blind eye to corrupt courts and lawlessness in Russia.

"When everyone in Russia is deprived of the right to a free trial — this is politics," he said in a blog post. "Just like the country got engulfed in racketing after the Yukos case, the Yevtushenkov case will herald a wave of plundering."

New Zealand prime minister wins 3rd term in office

September 20, 2014

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Prime Minister John Key won an emphatic victory Saturday in New Zealand's general election to return for a third term, a result that will be seen as an endorsement of the way his National Party has handled the economy.

"This is a great night. This is a victory for those who kept the faith," Key told a cheering crowd in Auckland. "This is a victory for those who refused to be distracted and who knew that a vote for National was a vote for a brighter future for all New Zealanders."

Key gave credit to his deputy prime minister, Bill English, whom he described as "the best finance minister in the developed world." With just a small number of special votes remaining to be counted, Key's party ended election night with 48 percent of the vote.

It was a disastrous night for the National Party's closest rival, the Labour Party, which won just 25 percent. "The truth is, the party vote has returned a National government, and over the coming days and weeks we will need to reflect upon why," Labour Party leader David Cunliffe said in his concession speech. He said he called Key to congratulate him on his victory.

"It is rare for any government to be defeated while surfing an economic rebound with around a 4 percent growth rate, even though the longer-term problems remain to be addressed," Cunliffe said. Cunliffe didn't address his future plans, but many expect him to resign as Labour leader in the coming months following the defeat.

The election result showed a swing to conservative parties, with the liberal Labour and Green parties losing ground. Under New Zealand's proportional voting system, parties typically must form coalitions to govern for the three-year terms.

If the results hold, however, it would mean the National Party could govern outright — something that has not happened for any party since the proportional system was introduced in 1996. But Key said during his victory speech that his party still intended to form a coalition with other smaller parties, to gain a broader majority and form a stronger government.

Still, the numbers would mean the National Party could pass legislation that doesn't have the support of any other parties. In the last election three years ago, the National Party won 47 percent of the vote.

Supporters praise how the party has managed New Zealand's economy, which has been growing at a 4 percent clip, with unemployment dropping to 5.6 percent. The government projects it will begin running budget surpluses this financial year, following years of deficits.

Cunliffe had pledged to build tens of thousands of inexpensive homes for first-time buyers to combat a pricey housing market, as well as to raise the minimum wage. The campaign was marked by a scandal after investigative journalist and liberal activist Nicky Hager published "Dirty Politics," a book that exposed the extent of the National Party's links with a conservative blogger. Justice Minister Judith Collins resigned from her ministerial portfolios after Key said she colluded with the blogger to try to undermine the director of the Serious Fraud Office, whom Collins oversaw.

Meanwhile, a party funded by indicted Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom failed to win a parliamentary seat, despite Dotcom pouring more than 3 million New Zealand dollars ($2.44 million) into the campaign. The Internet Mana Party polled strongly initially, but support appeared to evaporate in the lead-up to the election.

"I take full responsibility for this loss tonight, because the brand Kim Dotcom was poison for what we were trying to achieve," Dotcom said in his concession speech. "And I did not see that before, and it only became apparent to me in the last couple of weeks."

Dotcom is fighting attempts by U.S. prosecutors to extradite him on racketeering charges over his now-shuttered website Megaupload, which prosecutors say was used to illegally download enormous numbers of songs and movies. Dotcom says he can't be held responsible for those who chose to use his site for illegal downloads.

German-born Dotcom was not a candidate himself because he's not a New Zealand citizen and therefore not eligible to run. Should the election night results hold, the National Party would win 61 of Parliament's 121 seats. The Labour Party would win 32, the Green Party 13 and the New Zealand First Party 11. Three other small parties would win the remaining four seats.

The Conservative Party won 4 percent of the vote, but failed to win a seat. That's because it didn't win a single electorate outright or meet the required threshold of 5 percent of the total party vote.

Excitement and relief in landmark Fiji election

September 17, 2014

SUVA, Fiji (AP) — There was excitement among thousands of voters and relief from the international community Wednesday as Fijians cast ballots in a landmark election they hope will end more than a quarter-century of political turmoil and eight years of autocratic rule. But democracy may not have much of a new look to it.

Military strongman Voreqe Bainimarama, who has ruled this sunny South Pacific nation since he seized control in a 2006 coup, is the front-runner. He's popular in Fiji thanks in part to his focus on social programs, increased infrastructure spending and a crackdown on the media.

In early counting, Bainimarama's Fiji First party had 59.6 percent of the vote with 1,000 of the 2,025 polling stations processed, according to official results reported by the Fiji Times newspaper. Its closest rival, the Sodelpa Party, had 27.6 percent.

After casting his ballot, Bainimarama was asked whether he would accept the outcome if he lost. "I'm not going to lose. I will win. You ask that question to the other party," he said. Then he added, "Of course we will accept the election results. That is what the democratic process is all about."

The 100 or so international election observers reported no problems by the time polling closed at 6 p.m. In the morning, voters lined up at polling stations, with just over half a million of the nation's 900,000 citizens registered to vote.

The international community is prepared to drop remaining sanctions once Fiji officially restores democracy, including returning it to full membership among the Commonwealth group of nations. Moti Ram, 73, arrived at a Suva polling station early with his whole family. "We wanted our votes to count," he said.

Abele Tubaba, from the village of Koronatoga, said he hoped whoever wins will improve development in remote areas. "We struggle to find markets for our root crops, grog and seafood," he said, referring to a potent traditional Fijian drink. "We hope the new government brings better things for us."

Polls indicated the Fiji First party would comfortably win the most votes. Supporters say this reflects a job well done, while detractors say he's seeking to legitimize his treasonous power grab and years of human rights abuses.

His nearest rival, Ro Teimumu Kepa, leader of Sodelpa, said she and her candidates have done the best job they could: "We leave it to the people to decide." Bainimarama won favor with many Fijians by improving services. He's made education free and spent tens of millions of dollars improving the roads, albeit much of it with money borrowed from China. And the economy is showing signs of life, growing by 4.6 percent last year, according to government figures.

Some see his biggest achievement as reducing ethnic tensions, which have been a big factor in the four coups Fiji has endured since 1987. An indigenous Fijian, Bainimarama is paradoxically most popular with the large minority whose ancestors come from India. That's because he's ended preferential indigenous representation in the Parliament and abolished the Great Council of Chiefs, a group of powerful indigenous Fijians who enjoyed a privileged status in island life.

Human rights groups say Bainimarama has tortured prisoners and repressed opponents. They say he's carefully cultivated his own image by controlling the nation's media, and has looked after his own interests by meddling with the constitution, ensuring he and other coup leaders are immune from prosecution.

"We believe in democracy. They came in through treason. That's a major difference between us," said Kepa, herself a highly ranked indigenous chief. "They're telling the population they believe that all the citizenry are equal, yet they're giving themselves immunity. Where's the equality in that?"

Brij Lal, a professor at the Australian National University, said the international community is so eager to reward Fiji for holding the election that it's willing to overlook how Bainimarama gained power and held on to it.

"They all realize the process will be flawed," he said. "But as long as Fiji goes through the motions reasonably OK, then that's fine." While Bainimarama's party appears assured of gaining the most votes of the seven parties contesting the election, it may not cross the 50 percent threshold needed to rule outright in the Parliament, where the seats will be allocated proportionally based on the number of votes received.

Anything less than an outright majority would put Bainimarama in an unfamiliar position: He would have to form a coalition with at least one other party, and share power.

Perry reported from Wellington, New Zealand.

NATO approves new force aimed at deterring Russia

September 05, 2014

NEWPORT, Wales (AP) — Seeking to counter Russian aggression, NATO leaders approved plans Friday to create a rapid response force with a headquarters in Eastern Europe that could quickly mobilize if an alliance country in the region were to come under attack.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said a command headquarters would be set up in Eastern Europe with supplies and equipment stockpiled there, enabling the "spearhead" force to mobilize and deploy quickly.

"It sends a clear message to any potential aggressor: Should you even think of attacking one ally, you will be facing the whole alliance," Rasmussen declared as a two-day NATO summit in southern Wales drew to a close.

NATO air patrol flights over the Baltic and other air, land and naval measures already in place will be extended indefinitely, Rasmussen said, as part of a readiness package that also calls for upgraded intelligence-sharing and more short-term military exercises.

Moscow responded by claiming that NATO was using the crisis in Ukraine as pretext to advance a longstanding goal to move its infrastructure closer to Russia's borders. In a statement, Russia's foreign ministry said it was studying the NATO announcements, but warned that the alliance's plans to conduct joint exercises in Ukraine later this year will "inevitably aggravate tensions, jeopardize the progress that has been made in the peace process in Ukraine and exacerbate the split in Ukrainian society."

Confronting another pressing international crisis, Rasmussen said NATO stands "ready to help" Iraq fight back against a violent militant group, but noted that the Iraqi government has not made any such request. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron have been pressing their NATO counterparts to join a coalition of nations that could degrade militants from the Islamic State group.

The threat posed by the Islamic State overshadowed some of the NATO summit's official agenda. Yet the leaders still spent a considerable amount of their time discussing the crisis in Ukraine, with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko taking on a high-profile role during the talks.

The summit coincided with the declaration of a cease-fire that emerged Friday out of talks in Minsk, Belarus involving Ukraine, Russia and pro-Russian rebels. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he ordered government forces to stop hostilities, nearly five months after fighting broke out in the nation's restive east.

"I count on this agreement, including the ceasing of fire and the freeing of hostages, to be precisely observed," Poroshenko said. Yet Western leaders remained skeptical that any such cease-fire would hold. The U.S. and Europe, meanwhile, have warned that they stand ready to levy more economic sanctions on Russia — a step a top White House official said could occur within days.

The crisis in Ukraine has been among the most pressing issues on the agenda during the summit. While Ukraine is not an alliance member, Russia's actions have prompted fears among NATO member countries in Central and Eastern Europe that the Kremlin could seek to make gains beyond their borders as well.

Rasmussen said the high-readiness force would give NATO a "continuous presence" in Eastern Europe, with alliance countries contributing forces on a rotational basis. There were no final decisions on where the forces would be based, but Rasmussen said Poland, Romania and the Baltics have all indicated a willingness to host the facilities.

"We must be able to act more swiftly," said Cameron, the British leader. In another signal of its commitment to protecting its members in Eastern Europe, NATO announced that its next summit will be held in Warsaw, Poland, in 2016. Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski praised the alliance's willingness to boost its presence in the region, calling it "a matter of key importance to Poland's security."

On the sidelines of the summit, Cameron and Obama were also meeting with their counterparts to rally support for a mission to confront the Islamic State through military might, diplomatic efforts and economic penalties. Obama met Friday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a key regional player whose support would be crucial to defeating the militants. Cameron also planned to meet with Erdogan.

Obama also met Friday with French President Francois Hollande. Rasmussen suggested that NATO was unlikely to take imminent military action against the militants in Iraq, but said he could foresee the alliance engaging in a "defense capacity-building mission" there.

The U.S. is already launching airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq, and Britain has joined for humanitarian aid drops to besieged minority groups. Obama is weighing whether to extend the military mission into neighboring Syria, where the extremists have establisheed a safe haven.

On other fronts, alliance leaders pressed NATO countries to follow through on commitments to spend 2 percent of their nations' gross domestic product on defense. Only four NATO nations meet that threshold: the U.S., Britain, Greece and Estonia.

Komorowski said Poland would raise its defense budget to 2 percent of GDP in 2016 and would encourage other members to increase defense spending as well.

Associated Press writers Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland, and Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed to this report.